Ad MinolitiG.S.F.C. 2.0 (geometrical sci-fi cyborg)

For “Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA,” a city-wide, far-reaching and ambitious exploration of Latin American and Latino art in dialogue with Los Angeles, Cherry and Martin is pleased to present an exhibition of new works by Ad Minoliti. The exhibition is the Buenos Aires-based artist’s first solo exhibition in Los Angeles.

Minoliti’s exhibition, G.S.F.C. 2.0 (Geometrical Sci-Fi Cyborg), includes paintings, wall murals and domestic environments that build upon the artist’s exploration of the relationship between eroticism, queer theory, history and geometry. Minoliti’s “cyborg paintings” are made through a mixture of hand and machine. First the canvas is stenciled and airbrushed to create a color landscape with outlines of anthropomorphized forms. Minoliti photographs the composition, which is then printed onto canvas. Finally, Minoliti goes back over the printed canvas with paint.

A cyborg is defined as an organism that has restored or enhanced ability due to the integration of some artificial technological components. Minoliti’s “cyborg paintings” destabilize our understanding of what is created by hand and what is created by machine. She writes, “I like the game with the pre-concepts of expression, and using gender theory to challenge pictorially what each gesture "naturally" represents." Minoliti adds, “I want to make a statement in the need to retake the fantasy land into different perspectives out of the male gaze…I’m also interested in the dissolution of technical and conceptual borders, especially within the heteronormative context of western culture’s tendency to divide the entire world into two categories; it’s how I began my investigation into the ideas of sex, gender and pictorial genre as they interact within the limited and misogynistic worldview.”

The entire gallery is a site-specific installation incorporating Minoliti’s Cyborg paintings and four 2015 Case Study House paintings (CSH). The CSH paintings use Julius Shulman’s photographs of these iconic (primarily Los Angeles constructed) houses as source material. In these works, women, often depicted lounging on sofas, performing domestic tasks and catering to men in Shulman’s photographs, are replaced by geometrical compositions. Minoliti’s works test the viewer’s own predispositions towards gender determination while also extinguishing the gender roles shown in post-war California utopian imagery.

Past sculptures and installations by Minoliti have employed dollhouses, stuffed animals and childhood objects as well as images lifted from mid-century design, fashion and pornography. Minoliti’s exhibition references a range of popular children’s animations – many of which were created in California – such as the Cartoon Network show, Steven Universe, which was made by Rebecca Sugar, the Cartoon Network’s first female creator.

At Minoliti’s invitation, the exhibition will also include furniture by Los Angeles designer Yaoska Davila and video and sculpture by London-based artist Zadie Xa.

Ad Minoliti (b. 1980) lives and works in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Minoliti’s recent exhibitions, prizes and residencies include: Aichi Triennale 2016 (Japan); PlayHome at Galerie Crèvecoeur (París) and Case Study Cat House at Beta Local (Puerto Rico). Minoliti was awarded the Acquisition Prize at the Arcos Dorados Latin American Painting Competition (2013), First Prize Biennial MBA / MAC Bahia Blanca (2013), Acquisition Prize at the National Painting Prize Central Bank of Argentina and was nominated for The illy SustainArt Prize, Madrid (2015). Minoliti was a resident artist at Frac Pays De La Loire, France (2016) and Gasworks, London (2017). In 2018, Minoliti will be included in the Cleveland Triennial curated by Jens Hoffman and Michelle Grabner.